


don't go after me

by xynzel



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Full Moon, Halloween, Transformation, Trick or Treating, Werewolves, split personality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21817099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xynzel/pseuds/xynzel
Summary: It was supposed to be a normal trick-or-treating, but little did the three friends know that they would remember that evening for the rest of their lifes.
Kudos: 12





	don't go after me

**Author's Note:**

> My work for Kingdom Hearts Halloween Zine!! I had so much fun writing this!!

Sora was running late. So horribly late. And what was worse, he didn’t have an excuse.

He crossed the bridge leading to the eastern part of the town. He’d love to stop there for a minute and watch the sun disappearing bit by bit behind the horizon, but he couldn’t. He was just a few streets away from the meeting spot and he didn't want his friends to wait for him even longer than they’ve already waited.

“Ah, Sora, you owe us a meal again!” Kairi sighed as soon as her friend stopped next to her, trying to catch his breath.

“I know, I’m sorry! something just came up and I couldn’t come earlier,” sora apologized, hoping they wouldn't want to know more.  
His friends already knew that he took a nap and forgot to set an alarm since it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

The three friends could finally get going. The town they lived in was pretty big and they always tried to go around as many houses as possible.

Sora loved trick-or-treating. It was a chance to get to know people a bit better and get some sweets as a bonus. He already knew that people were friendlier early in the evening, but the more kids knocked at their door, the grumpier the neighbors got.

“The moon is finally coming out,” Riku said, looking at the dark sky.

“Yeah, and it’s a full moon on Halloween this year! Isn’t that just great?” Kairi giggled.

Sora froze.

How could he ever forget about such an important thing?

“Sora? Is anything wrong?” Riku noticed Sora’s frightened face.

Sora looked at Riku.

“I have to go,” he said. His voice was shaking.  
Both Kairi and Riku were confused by the sudden change of Sora’s behavior. They weren’t able to connect the dots and figure it out like they usually did, but no one could blame them. What was happening to Sora was just a myth for most people.

“Why? Did something happen?” Kairi tried reaching out for Sora’s hand, but he avoided her arm.

“I have to go, _now_. Please, don’t follow me,” Sora said in a quiet voice as he walked around them without making eye contact.

Riku and Kairi were standing there, watching Sora as he ran towards the forest. They thought maybe Sora didn’t feel well or he needed some time alone.  
Until they heard the scream.

It wasn’t anything new that there were wild animals in the woods. And it wasn’t new that sometimes they attacked people who recklessly walked into the forest alone.

Riku and Kairi exchanged a worried look and despite Sora’s wish, they ran after him to make sure he was okay.

They screamed Sora’s name many times, but they never got an answer. Riku was scared that maybe they would draw attention to them too, but more than that, he feared never seeing his best friend again.

The calls continued and the silence of the forest was getting louder with every step. They knew sora couldn’t have run far, so they stayed at the edge of the forest.

After another few long minutes, Riku stopped Kairi and just listened. He’d swear that he’d heard someone breathing. He thought maybe it was Sora, but he was wise enough to assume that it could’ve been just an animal.

He gestured at Kairi to stay quiet and follow him. They sneaked around a few trees and shrubs, but they haven’t found anything suspicious.

Suddenly, something jumped out of the nearest bush and pinned Riku to the ground. Riku fell right on a stone which made him bleed from the back of his head.

The creature smelled the blood, of course, and was going crazy. But something was stopping it from attacking.

The wind blew the clouds away, revealing the bright full moon. Riku was now staring into a pair of golden eyes. Its fur was as dark as a night without the moon.

Riku was confused. Whatever this beast was, it wasn’t attacking him even though Riku could see it wanted to.

“Sora?”

Kairi had no idea how she figured out it was him. There was something weird about the creature, as if it wasn’t just one soul in a body. It was having a fight with something inside of it, and the something was clearly winning.

“Sora? Are you really… _this_?” Riku whispered.

The beast made a sound that distantly resembled a scream. It opened its mandibles, perhaps intending to bite Riku, but a second later Riku found it whining in pain, almost losing balance and falling on him.

“I told you not to follow me! Why don’t you ever just listen to me!”

Sora’s voice was deep and desperate. He was doing his best to ignore his senses and the smell of fresh blood, but he knew he couldn’t hold back for much longer. The beast was slowly winning over his body.

“I’m so, _so_ sorry that you had to see me like this. I have to go, don’t go after me this time,” Sora begged his friends, moving away from Riku. His steps were heavy. It almost felt like the beast inside of him was trying to stop him from escaping.

Finally, Sora managed to break out from the beast and start running away. He didn’t want to hurt his friends and running away was the only option he had left.  
He’s always been running away.

“Wait, Sora! You can fight it, I know you can! You just have to believe!”

Kairi’s voice made Sora stop. For a good minute, he was just standing there, a few yards away from them.

“Kairi, no, let him go. He needs some time now, we can talk later.”

Riku was still on the ground, recovering from the shock. He watched Sora standing there, but that was just until he turned his head.

This beast was no longer Sora.

Riku knew it, and yet, all he could do when it ran up to him with its mouth wide open was lifting his arm in defense. The bite hurt like hell. Riku was trying so hard to stay quiet, but the pain was unbearable.

A loud scream cut the air like a sharp knife.

Kairi’s eyes were filled with fear. Without even realizing it, she started backing off.

The beast noticed. It let go of Riku’s forearm and slowly started approaching the girl.

“No! Let her be!” Riku grabbed its furry tail in an attempt of stopping it. It took just one threatening growl and a side glance for Riku to let go of it.

Kairi tripped, in the worst moment possible.

“Sora, I know you’re in there, please, stop this,” she begged, but her fear was only feeding the beast. Her limbs felt heavy and she couldn’t bring herself to move them.

The beast was now standing above her. It looked way bigger than before.

“Sora, please!”

“Sora is _dead_. I am Vanitas,” the beast growled, curving its mouth into a weird shape that somewhat resembled an evil grin.

However, that didn’t last for too long. The beast’s jaw shut fiercely, whining like a beaten dog yet again. It pulled its ears back and with its tail down, it backed off and ran away.

Kairi still couldn’t move. Riku hurried to her to check if she was alright, not minding his own injury.

“What in the world happened to him?” the girl asked with tears in her eyes.

“He’s a werewolf. What we’ve just seen was the form they take on themselves. It’s really like they described it in the books…” Riku shared his thoughts with his friend.

“How come you know so much about werewolves?” Kairi asked. She never noticed Riku was into this kind of things.

“Honestly, I’ve thought Sora could be… _that_ for a while now, so I did my research. The werewolf takes the form of our worst self, that’s why it wasn’t acting like Sora,” Riku explained.

“I see,” Kairi looked at her own feet. She felt bad for not noticing something was wrong with Sora, but it was too late now. “But Sora was still there! Can’t he fight it or anything?”

Riku sighed.

“He was only trying to protect us while he still could.”

“Protect us before what?”

“Before himself, Kairi. Not only there’s no cure for lycanthropy, it gets spread pretty easily too. Sora didn’t want us to be like that.”

Kairi was shook. She felt like screaming her lungs out, but no sound came out. She sought help from Riku, but he didn’t have any soothing words for her.

She had one last question. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer, but she _had_ to ask.

“How… How do you get infected?”

She found sorrow in her friend’s eyes.

“Through bites,” he gave Kairi a sad smile.

That one Halloween night changed everything for the three friends. Sora would blame himself for forgetting about the full moon. Riku was anxiously waiting for the next full moon to come, scared of himself.

And Kairi would forever hate herself for stopping Sora and making Riku become a beast too.


End file.
